Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
I've seen some great stuff from it, but is it that much more powerful than the Avid color corrector? thanks.
Convince me I NEED Magic Bullet
- Thread starter Brandon Rice
- Start date
Matt Grunau
Adobe Demigod
Shaw said:I'm gonna say 'screw it' - buy a book on color theory instead
Three I would recommend would be:
Digital Retouching and compositing: Photographer's Guide by David D. Bush
ISBN# 1-932094-19-9
Photoshop Color Correction by Michael Kieran
ISBN# 0-321-12401-4
Adobe Photohshop Master Class, Second Edition: The Essential Guide to Revisioning Photography by John Paul Caponigro
ISBN# 0-321-13010-3
They are all very good reads, and cover a hell of a lot of color theory. Some are older books, one covering Photoshop 6-7, 2003 and one dating back to 1999with PS7, but the theory hasn't changed.
But they are also mainly for Photoshop, which luckily translates well to video.
Brandon, do you use Photoshop, and if so, what kinds of adjustments does it share with Avid? Things like Levels and Curves are a given, but what about blending modes, and things like Color replacement, Hue and Saturation (RGBCMY) Adjustments and so on?
After Effects is pretty much the same tool set and identicle workflow as photoshop on the pixel by pixel layer (for the most part), so it's a very colse transition.
But to address your post directly, if you can replicate an look you want from Magic Bullet in Photoshop (usually easily done), you may very well be able to get the same thing from MB, if Avid has those functions. But there is a good degree of theory and understanding principles of how colors are achieved, the relationship they play with each other and why, color schemes, Luminance isolation techniques, and things like how blending modes do what they do (and WHY) which opens doors to doing it by hand.
Long post. Sorry :thumbsup:
J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
MB is not at all anything you need
It is all fluff
It is all fluff
Matt Sconce
Veteran
You need Magic Bullet!.............hehe Maybe that wasn't very convincing....
Ralph Oshiro
Veteran
I like Magic Bullet. It's fun! What's wrong with a little fun?
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Well thanks for all the reply's. I will try to respond to everyone.
Matt Grunau - I do use Photoshop for correcting still photos. Basically what Avid has is curves and levels, I generally color grade using the curves mainly. It doesn't have blend modes (that I know of) as FCP and Vegas has.
bballplaya283 - Yeah, I heard the render times are horrible, which I do not want. Rendering takes long as it is. Also, putting out $200 for a program that will give me a look I can replicate in Avid, and not have the crazy render times is quite foolish, IMO.
All that having been said, I'm still unconvinced.
And I agree about the color theory thing. I've studied color and lighting a TON lately, and have made huge strides in that area of picture manipulation. I
I will try to pick up some of those books you mentioned Matt. Thanks.
Matt Grunau - I do use Photoshop for correcting still photos. Basically what Avid has is curves and levels, I generally color grade using the curves mainly. It doesn't have blend modes (that I know of) as FCP and Vegas has.
bballplaya283 - Yeah, I heard the render times are horrible, which I do not want. Rendering takes long as it is. Also, putting out $200 for a program that will give me a look I can replicate in Avid, and not have the crazy render times is quite foolish, IMO.
All that having been said, I'm still unconvinced.
And I agree about the color theory thing. I've studied color and lighting a TON lately, and have made huge strides in that area of picture manipulation. I
I will try to pick up some of those books you mentioned Matt. Thanks.
MalcolmOng
Veteran
Brandon: I find color finesse is a wonderful wonderful programme, and you should consider that too/instead
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Hm. I have not ever heard of that. Thanks Malcolm. Does that program have long long render times as well?
Jeremy Ordan
Major Contributor
Brandon,
Check this thread http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=50587
It is set up for Vegas but it is a color correction tutorial and workshop that was done to balance an image as well as apply some color grading.
MB is a powerful tool, but the problem is that the looks it creates have become completely overused and the rendering time on it is absolutely INSANE.
The best way to look at MB is that it is a preset mill where you can emulate several well known grades of color on your image and with a lot of tweeking, coupled with a powerful system you can create your own.
Personally I think that the Ultimate S package from Vasst (once again, for Sony Vegas) is a quicker preset package that does similar looks with less rendering time required.
MB is a good tool that when not overused can come up with some nice looks. Is it required? Nope, not in the least, but it can be a nice additional tool to complement a strong understand in color theory and additional hands on grading techniques using curves, color correctors, and levels.
Almost anything that you can do in Photoshop can be done in an editor albeit with lesser control.
What I would suggest would be to take a picture into photoshop with a plan of how you want it to look and play with levels, curves, hue, saturation, and color balance... Create the look you are looking for and then try to do the same in Avid, Vegas, FCP, or whatever you are using.
Once you can emulate in your editor what you do in Photoshop you will not need MB...
MB is like Lowery's Seasoned Salt... It's not required but sometimes on certain clips it is sort of nice.
Check this thread http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=50587
It is set up for Vegas but it is a color correction tutorial and workshop that was done to balance an image as well as apply some color grading.
MB is a powerful tool, but the problem is that the looks it creates have become completely overused and the rendering time on it is absolutely INSANE.
The best way to look at MB is that it is a preset mill where you can emulate several well known grades of color on your image and with a lot of tweeking, coupled with a powerful system you can create your own.
Personally I think that the Ultimate S package from Vasst (once again, for Sony Vegas) is a quicker preset package that does similar looks with less rendering time required.
MB is a good tool that when not overused can come up with some nice looks. Is it required? Nope, not in the least, but it can be a nice additional tool to complement a strong understand in color theory and additional hands on grading techniques using curves, color correctors, and levels.
Almost anything that you can do in Photoshop can be done in an editor albeit with lesser control.
What I would suggest would be to take a picture into photoshop with a plan of how you want it to look and play with levels, curves, hue, saturation, and color balance... Create the look you are looking for and then try to do the same in Avid, Vegas, FCP, or whatever you are using.
Once you can emulate in your editor what you do in Photoshop you will not need MB...
MB is like Lowery's Seasoned Salt... It's not required but sometimes on certain clips it is sort of nice.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Ok, I'm convinced I DON'T need it I have been very happy with the looks I've achieved using Avid so far, and I shall continue using it. Thanks for the Photoshop suggestion as well Jeremy.
I have been very happy with the looks I've achieved using Avid so far, and I shall continue using it. Thanks for the Photoshop suggestion as well Jeremy.
MalcolmOng
Veteran
Color finesse doesn't have the crazy render times - thats the primary reason why i prefer it over magic bullet. In fact its virtually lag free on my rig (amd 3200+ 64 bit with 6600gt graphics card from nvidia). You should check their site for a full feature list, but stuff i really like is the fact that you can split the source with the cc'd picture so you can tell whether you're going overboard, and you can import reference looks into your programme and split it with your cc'd picture.
What i find about magic bullet is that its pretty useless unless you tweak it, and then again it doesnt necessarily enhance the color - it just tints it and grades it. Oh i forgot to mention about color finesse - its got all the scopes and stuff built in so you can see where you're going. Hope this helps!
What i find about magic bullet is that its pretty useless unless you tweak it, and then again it doesnt necessarily enhance the color - it just tints it and grades it. Oh i forgot to mention about color finesse - its got all the scopes and stuff built in so you can see where you're going. Hope this helps!
Shooter
Veteran
Magic Bullet is not a Color Corrector and does not pretend to be one.
It is a "look suite" and in such offers different ways to manipulate the "look" of an image. Its advantage is that many filters reside in the same effect and the artist can build the look from within the one interface.
ie it would take many effects to achieve what MBs can do from one point.
It is a "look suite" and in such offers different ways to manipulate the "look" of an image. Its advantage is that many filters reside in the same effect and the artist can build the look from within the one interface.
ie it would take many effects to achieve what MBs can do from one point.
I find the bullets usefull for some of the corporate work i do, I've got some favourite settings saved and I whack it on when i'm nearly done. I've very rarely used it for any of my own work but for clients who don't know anything about editing or color, they love it. I find that its a good shortcut sometimes.
